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small-bizXpress

Articles and opinions on small business and entrepreneurship

Entrepreneur Lessons

Wednesday, November 30, 2005



A lot of entrepreneurs dream of launching a business built around their hobbies or favorite pastimes. Big mistake, says Paul Orfalea. If you like to eat, don't go into restaurants, said Orfalea, the founder of the Kinko's copy chain, Then you hate going to restaurants. I used to like to bowl. Now I own a bowling alley, and I hate bowling.

This fall, Orfalea is promoting his new book: Copy This! Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic Who Turned a Bright Idea into One of America's Best Companies.

Hyperactive dyslexic is as good a description as any for Orfalea, who yanks off his tie at the first opportunity during a recent interview. He then chats effortlessly about everything from the state of public schools to his lack of interest in technology. But Orfalea said that restless attitude is part of what made him so successful. "You have to have three things in balance: work, love and play," he said. "Like a tripod. So if you're an addictive personality or if you like certitude, don't go into business for yourself"

Orfalea founded Kinko's in 1970 but said he still has no idea how a copy machine works, has never used e-mail and reads, at best, at a fifth-grade level. The chain is now called FedEx Kinko's and is based in Dallas

Via Seattle Times

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